A three-minute exposure shows the plumes from the Verso paper mill's stacks on Thursday, the eve of the shutdown of the mill's last running paper machine.
Ryan Pickoski walks toward the Verso paper mill in Bucksport on Dec. 4, the day before the No. 1 paper machine was scheduled to make its last run. Pickoski is a fourth generation millworker and is not sure what he will do next.
Mike Hamilton of Searsport, who works in maintenance at the Verso paper mill in Bucksport, talks about what will be next for him after the mill shuts down. Hamilton was having breakfast at the Island Rise & Shine on Verona Island.
Bruce Robinson of Brewer, president of the Local 261, a chapter of the United Paperworkers International Union, sits in his union's office in downtown Bucksport. Robinson said his members' feelings range from mad, to sad, to anxious, to worried about what will happen next.
Katherine George, at right, owner of Island Rise & Shine Restaurant on Verona Island, clears plates off a table during the breakfast shift Thursday. George says she is not worried about what will happen to her business in light of the paper mill shutting down in Bucksport.
A 1930s photo of the paper machine called Bucksport 1, or B1, which was manufactured in the mid-1930s.
This 2010 photo shows two paper machines, the B1 and B2.
This 1988 photo shows employees working inside the Verso mill in Bucksport.
Workers finish their shift at the Verso paper mill in Bucksport just before 5 p.m. Thursday, with the mill set to be shut down early in the morning on Friday.
Workers head into the Verso paper mill in Bucksport just before 5 p.m. Thursday. Those who operate the No. 1 paper machine on this night shift will produce the last paper the mill makes before it is shut down early Friday morning.
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